Picking up from where I left off:

I’ve been meaning to read The Turning of the Screw for a long, long time. I also love reading adaptations of classic works, so when I came across this book, I instantly put it on my TBR, because I was curious about it. But I didn’t look that far into it and now that I’m looking over it again…It’s got a really, really low average rating. The first several reviews are two-star. That’s not great. I still plan on reading The Turn of the Screw, but this one…not really.

I’m pretty interested in things involving zombies, but I’m of a weaker constitution that many fans, so I don’t usually venture too far into the horror genre. However, there have been quite a few books that I’ve read involving zombies that I enjoyed, so I’m thinking this could still be of interest to me. It’s YA, so I’m not expecting super scariness, and I like the idea of reading about a whole bunch of juvenile delinquents trying to deal with zombies. It sounds kind of hilarious.

As I said earlier, I like reading adaptations of classic lit. This book is an adaptation of a Brothers’ Grimm story. I’m not familiar with the story, but I think it sounds pretty awesome. I’m very curious about the pacing of this story, since it seems like a lot of things are supposed to happen: adventure, romance, spurned suitors…I also like the idea of it taking place on the Asian steppes. I know basically nothing about this region, so I’ll be curious to learn new things through this story and to be introduced to a new-to-me culture.

This was a book suggested to me by my mother. She read it and loved it, and she knows I love Dracula, so she figured I’d be into this story, to. It sounds like it could be so, so cool! A man brought to a Transylvanian castle to authenticate a potential Dracula manuscript and finds himself the prisoner of Vlad Dracul. I mean, sounds pretty great to me. I love mystery/thriller stories. I’m hoping to enjoy this book as much as I did the original Dracula, especially since this story seems directly tied to it.

I have so many of Gregory’s books on my TBR! I feel like I just need to set a month or two aside to read them all! She’s an excellent author, and I am particularly interested in this one, because I loved The White Queen so much, and this one is basically the follow-up to it. The Plantagenets and the Tudors are one of my favorite things to read about and Gregory does a pretty good job of injecting the historical facts with life and vibrancy, so that they read more like novels and less like history books.

I came across this book at work in the library and thought it looked so interesting! Love stories are one of my favorite things to read about, but break-ups can be just as interesting. Add to that celebrity or historical figures and you’ve got me hooked! I think this book is probably going to be a quick read, so I don’t mind keeping it on my list. I can probably save it for one of those times when I’m in a book slump and need something innocuous and light.

So, this is a bit different then the other entries in this post in that I have read half of this book, then for some reason stopped, but I had the full intention of finishing. I really like what I’ve read of the book, it’s such a fascinating premise and action/thriller with that touch of mystery. The main character doesn’t know who she is and is basically a “new” person, discovering clues her old self left her, all while trying to pretend she is still her old self, because she’s a part of this organization that deals with the supernatural. Sounds amazing, right?! Well, having read half of it, I can say that it totally is and I’m definitely going to finish it. I might just go ahead and buy it, that way I have no excuse.

Recently, a co-worker of mine read this book, sort of in anticipation for the television adaptation of it. But she didn’t enjoy it, and when she watched the show, she realized it was way, way different. So basically it’s an “in name only” adaptation. I’ve been hanging onto this book because I feel like I need to read at least one thing by Shirley Jackson. She’s a classic scary story/horror writer and I am very curious. I have read her short story, “The Lottery,” which is very famous. It was really good, so I know she writes in a way I find interesting. So, there’s that.

Have you seen the movie The Duchess with Keira Knightley? Well, this book is about the same woman and tells the whole story of her life. I am a big fan of biographies and I’ve read many that are now my favorite books. I put this one on my list because I absolutely loved the movie. But just from reading the description of this book, I can see they played down quite a bit of her life and also made some changes for a more romantic feel. It’s understandable, for a Hollywood movie. As much as I want to say I’m interested in this book, a part of me has since grown out of my obsession with The Duchess. While she sounds like a fascinating figure, I don’t know if I want to sit down and read a 400+ page book about her. I might in the future. Consider this a place-holder.

I don’t really know what to make of this one. Having read the summary, I don’t think I possibly could have picked it based on that. I’m at a loss as to how I came across this book. It also doesn’t sound like something I would just pick up. I wish I could remember how I first heard about it, or if it was a recommendation or something? But since I don’t have anything to go off of, all I can say is: hard pass. Unless anyone has read this book and wants to talk me into it.

Verdict: GO

Results:

Kept: 7

Discarded: 3

Looks like I did another flip flop and am keeping way more than discarding. And that’s okay. I had some really memorable ones on this list today. I had completely forgotten about one, and the rest were just some of the usual things I’d be interested in.

Thoughts?

So, what do you think? Any books I cut that you wouldn’t? Any books that I’m keeping that aren’t worth my time? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you. See you next week for another meme post.

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Published by Sara@YearofReadingDangerously.com

I'm a librarian who loves to knit, craft, and play board games. I provide free reviews of books in a variety of genres on this blog. I love to discuss books with fellow book lovers and engage in nerdy discourse about the many fandoms I'm a part of (Harry Potter, Marvel, Star Wars, Jane Austen, etc).
View all posts by Sara@YearofReadingDangerously.com